Aldis Hodge was born in North Carolina in 1986. He started acting very young following in his older brother's footsteps. Hodge began on Broadway where he and his brother acted in Showboat during its Tony winning run. He has had numerous guest appearances on many TV shows and in 2008 he landed a leading role on TNT's Leverage.

Quotes (11)

Aldis: (On his favorite part of his character on Leverage) The fact that he is intelligent. As an actor, as an African American actor the roles are very limited. Usually it takes awhile to get a good role and not a product or a stereotype. I mean I've played thug-this and killer-that for so long it got boring and tired. It started to be make me unhappy in my career, but this role comes along, I can actually play a cool person. He knows what he's doing, and yes he's a thief but he's doing it for the right reasons. He's actually an intelligent person, and that is what I love. Everything that went along with the job, great people, great cast, great production and great crew... we actually had a really great set and a good environment. This job has been amazing, and I've had fun working on it. It's probably been one of the best networks I've worked with, TNT, probably one of my favorite jobs so far.

Aldis:(On attending the Art Center College of Design) I've always been an artist. I design watches. It doesn't even feel like I'm going to school. I draw and create the whole time. It's like giving a kid a comic book and crayons. Don't get me wrong; it's hard work, but I love it. I'm building up my portfolio, and when I get a minute I'm going to knock out another semester.

Aldis: Stage is a very different platform from film. It is the greatest training any actor can have because you have to be "on" at the moment. There are no, "Cut! Take Two!'s" on stage. Stage acting is big and over the top while film has to be more minimal and nuanced. They are two different experiences but both are great crafts.

Aldis: (On incorporating humor into his role on Leverage) I started doing stand up comedy when I was 11 years old. I started hosting improv when I was 13 years old. I ran comedy till I was about 18 years old. Comedy was more of a background of mine out of bad times. You know when it got bad at home I just started doing crazy stuff to make my momma laugh, and that's where it came from. It never was intentional. With this character, the team give me so much freedom to be me and add what I can. And we have a lot of fun!

Aldis:My brother (two years older) was the one who wanted to do TV, but I didn't like the business at all. He was doing this one job where they needed an extra kid on set and my mom was like, 'Do you want to do it?' And I was like, 'Sure, cool, fine,' and so I did it. Afterwards, she bought me Batman toy. She told me that for doing a good job, she was going to buy me a Batman toy. So, I said myself, 'Okay, how can I get more Batman toys? I know, I'll do more acting jobs.' So, that was what got me into acting, I wanted more Batman toys. But eventually, I came to love my craft. It's still a very tough monster to tackle but I do love my craft and nothing's taking that away.